Levon Helm, drummer for The Band is reported to be near death after a long battle with cancer. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998 and although the illness took away much of his voice, he continued to record and perform.

On Tuesday, his family posted a message on his website: ” Dear Friends,
Levon is in the final stages of his battle with cancer. Please send your prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey.”

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The 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions took place before an audience of 6000 last night in Cleveland and it appears that nothing went wrong- even though three key inductees were no-shows.
The Beastie Boy’s Adam Yauch has battled cancer since 2009 and couldn’t attend last night.
Rod Stewart was planning to accept  as a member of The Faces but he was suffering from the flu and had to bail on his Doctor’s orders. Fellow Faces inductee Ronnie Wood was on hand and in fine form. He and former band-mates performed while singer Mick Hucknall filled in for Stewart.
Axl Rose was the third notable no-show. Last week, Rose finally weighed in on how he felt about Guns n’ Roses being inducted: he wanted the new line-up to be included, he didn’t like what he’d heard from the press and former band-mates, he didn’t want to be included as an inductee and didn’t want anyone else accepting in his absence.
Billie Joe Armstrong,lead singer of Green Day, helped induct Guns & Roses. As the band came up on stage, he asked the crowd who was missing. The audience responded with a round of boos but Armstrong went on to praise Rose: “He is one of the best front man to ever touch a microphone”.
Guns & Roses were not scheduled to perform last night but fans were treated to a three-song jam that saw  guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steve Adler performing together for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Find out who got inducted HERE.

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Major music sales websites have listed the release date for the new Rush album as May 29th but the band has finally made their official announcement.

“Clockwork Angels”  will be released on June 12. A “fanpack edition”  called ” Classic Rock Presents Rush – Clockwork Angels”  will arrive the day before.  It will come with a 132-page magazine including interviews with Rush, and other bonus items.

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After months of speculation and controversy,  Axl Rose has confirmed that he will not be present when Guns n’ Roses are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday.  He’s taking it further than that by declining his personal induction and asking that he not be inducted in his absence.  He doesn’t want anyone accepting on his behalf and doesn’t want to be included at all.

Rose has written a letter to explain his position. In summary, he had mixed feelings about the original announcement but wanted to make things work for the fans. He thinks the situation is now too awkward to continue and he’s heard and read to many negative things from former band-mates, fans and the media. He doesn’t agree with the line-up chosen for induction and he prefers to live in the present and not the past.

For fans hoping that there would be a Gn’R reunion on Saturday, it’s a disappointment, but it’s going to make the acceptance speeches very interesting!

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Rolling Stone’s guitarist Ronnie Wood has revealed that his band will meet in a studio next month to “throw some ideas around”.  Fans are hoping that the result will be a new album, but Ronnie feels that they all need to get back in musical shape.  “It’s like working out for the Olympics or something.” he explained ” You’ve got to go into training. So we’re going to go into training”.

In the meantime, Wood is preparing for his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Faces on Saturday. He’ll also play a show in Atlantic City and possibly start work on another solo album.

Woods says he’s had more solo releases than most people know about. They just don’t go anywhere. As his band-mate Keith Richards puts it ” they all skyrocket to oblivion”.

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On Saturday March 3, guitarist Ronnie Montrose died at the age of 64. He’d battled prostate cancer for a few years, and it was generally assumed to be the cause of his death. His family didn’t release any further details. The coroner’s report has just been made public and it reveals that Montrose died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

His family has posted this message on his website:

“By now, the devastating truth of Ronnie’s death is public knowledge. We hope you can understand why we wanted to keep this news a private family matter for as long as possible. We can only hope that you will choose to celebrate Ronnie’s life, and what his music meant to you, rather than mourn his passing. Ronnie would have wanted it that way. He loved being a guitarist, a composer, a producer, and a creator of magic. He fully understood his gifts, and yet he constantly pushed himself to evolve, improve, and make better music. He did this for himself, and he did this for you, because he adored and appreciated his fans. Please keep his energy, his joy, and his love in your hearts.

“Please note that there will be no more statements from the Montrose family at this time. We ask that you respect the family’s privacy.”

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On Saturday night, the class of 2012 will be inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of Fame. There are a couple of differences this year. The ceremony will be held in Cleveland, where the HOF is located, rather than New York City as in the past,  and there are more than the usual amount of inductees. The HOF is making up for past omissions and inducting some famous backing bands (ie The Miracles & the Crickets) that were left out when their front man got inducted.

Some things don’t change though. It looks as if Guns & Roses will be the most controversial inductee this year as no one seems to know who is attending and if the band will perform a song or two.

The ceremony will be aired on HBO in May. These are the players:

GUNS N ROSES – inducted by Green Day

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS- inducted by Chris Rock

FACES/SMALL FACES- inducted by Stevie Van Zandt

DONOVAN- inducted by John Mellencamp

LAURA NYRO- inducted by Bette Middler

THE BEASTIE BOYS- inducted by Chuck D

FREDDIE KING (Early Influence)- inducted by Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top

BACKING BANDS: THE CRICKETS, THE MIRACLES, THE FAMOUS FLAMES, THE MIDNIGHTERS, THE COMETS & THE BLUE CAPS- inducted by Smokey Robinson

SIDEMEN (producers, promoters etc)

DON KIRSHNER- inducted by Carole King

COSIMO MATASSA, TOM DOWD, GLYN JOHNS- inducted by Robbie Robertson

Go to the R&R HOF website HERE

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Les Paul was the man behind the famous Gibson Les Paul, one of the world’s most widely known and played.  He revolutionized the sound of the electric guitar and also made major changes to studio recording technology. He commissioned the first 8-track recorder which is the core of today’s multi-track studio technology. He was a musician, an engineer, innovator and inventor. He died August 13, 2009.

On June 8 and 9, Julien’s Auctions and the Les Paul Foundation will hold an auction of guitars, equipment, artifacts and property that belonged to Les Paul.  The date was chosen because it would have been Paul’s 97th birthday (June 9).

If you’d like to find out more and even make a bid, here’s the website.

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This week, Aerosmith finally announced dates for the tour they’ve been promising. At first, there was  only one Canadian date (Toronto, July 27) but Montreal, Quebec City  and Grand Falls NFLD  were added and there’s still room for more. “The Global Warming Tour” kicks off June 16 and Cheap trick is the opening act. Steven Tyler promises “we will kick your ass and make out with your mothers”

As for that long-awaited Aerosmith album, the band just confirmed that they’re close to finishing work on it and it will be out in about 3 months. They’re keeping the title a secret for now but promise that it will “bring a little of 1975 back.”

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The new issue of Rolling Stone Magazine (with Bruce Springsteen on the cover) will carry a story that explains why we won’t get a chance to see the Rolling Stones tour this year to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a band.

In separate interviews, both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have said that it’s not going to happen. According to Keef, the band simply isn’t prepared. According to insiders, it’s concern for Richard’s health that’s keeping the Stones off the road.

So that’s the bad news, and here’s the good; The Stones are about to hit the studio and start recording sessions and there will be a number of 50th Anniversary celebrations this year. “The Rolling Stones: 50″ is a book full of photographs that cover the band’s long history. It’s coming out on July 12. There will also be a documentary movie that follows the history of the band using lots of interviews and previously unseen film. It should be released this fall.

And the band does intend to hit the road next year. According to insiders, they are looking at long runs at large venues as opposed to a more rigorous city-hopping event that Richards might find difficult. Not only that, the band doesn’t feel pressured to tour this year. As Keef put it “The Stones always really considered ’63 to be 50 years, because Charlie [Watts] didn’t actually join until January. We look upon 2012 as sort of the year of conception, but the birth is next year.”

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