Blog

It's fair to say that popular music would not sound the same without Clive Davis. Continue reading…

Documentary filmmaker Wes Orshoski has opened up about how Iron Maiden ultimately came through for his film Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer — despite initially declining to participate when he first approached the band’s camp in 2017. Orshoski, co-director and producer of the acclaimed 2010 Motörhead documentary Lemmy, was speaking on the latest episode of The David Ellefson Show, hosted by former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson.

Orshoski recounted how he captured the first face-to-face meeting between Di’Anno and Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris in nearly three decades at a May 2022 Maiden concert in Croatia. He said (transcribed by Blabbermouth): “The day after I signed the contract to make this film in 2017, I called [Iron Maiden’s longtime manager] Rod Smallwood. He said, ‘I love the Lemmy film and I love what you do, but we’re not gonna be involved in this.’ And so five years later, I snuck my camera in with Paul. I guess if you wanna get into a concert in Croatia, go in with the rock and roll legend in the wheelchair. I didn’t wanna take my camera out, so when Steve came into the room, I just filmed it on my phone — and a couple other people were filming it on their phones. Whether Maiden would sign off on it was a big stressful situation for years. And Maiden, in the end, were super cool and allowed me to [use the footage in the film].”

Orshoski said only Harris came to meet Di’Anno that night: “Yeah, that broke my heart. I was, like, ‘Oh, man, how cool would it be if Dave [Murray] walked in, or Adrian [Smith], or even Bruce [Dickinson]?’ But, no, Steve was the only guy. In that moment, if you guys re-watch it, it’s all about that initial moment when they see each other and they smile. Because they haven’t hung out in 40 years, so they don’t really know each other anymore, but in that moment, there’s tenderness. And then they kind of default to that shy British thing.”

Orshoski also reflected on what Di’Anno’s financial trajectory might have been had he not sold his Iron Maiden songwriting rights for a modest sum years ago. “I’ve often wondered if Paul had never sold those rights, what his situation would’ve been like,” he said. “Instead of living in a small three-room apartment in Salisbury, would he have a house and money to afford private health care?” He suggested, however, that given Di’Anno’s personality, the money likely would have been spent regardless: “The big problem with Paul — somebody says it in the film — is whereas when Ronnie James Dio went solo or when Ozzy [Osbourne] went solo, they had infrastructure. They had good management. They had a great band. And Paul didn’t really have any of those things. He made an AOR album out of Maiden.”

Maiden’s cooperation extended to the most poignant moment in the film. Di’Anno died on Oct. 21, 2024, at his home in Salisbury at the age of 66. The following evening, Iron Maiden — who happened to be playing the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota on Oct. 22 — held an unannounced moment of silence in his honor. Orshoski said: “The next morning I got a call from Dave Shack in Iron Maiden’s office, and he’s, like, ‘We wanna give you this footage.’ It’s just another example of them being super cool. They allowed me to license the music and video elements, and then they called and gave me this, which I augmented with fan footage so that you could feel what it felt like to be in the rafters in that arena.”

Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer features appearances by James Hetfield (Metallica), Gene Simmons (KISS), Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris and members of Exodus, Slayer, Megadeth, Overkill and Sepultura. Metal Hammer describes the film as “a harrowing insight into Di’Anno’s frustration and frailty at a desperately low ebb with an abrasively real, warts-and-all approach.” Metal Talk calls it “a raw, dark and intimate documentary detailing the tragic final years of Iron Maiden’s original singer.” Orshoski began shooting in 2017; his other directing credits include The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead.

One of the icons of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Paul Di’Anno — born Paul Andrews on May 17, 1958, in Chingford, East London — fronted Iron Maiden on two of heavy metal’s most foundational albums: the 1980 self-titled debut and the celebrated 1981 follow-up, Killers. He left the band in 1981 and was replaced by Bruce Dickinson. His subsequent career included work with Battlezone and Killers, as well as numerous solo releases. His final career retrospective, The Book of the Beast, was released in September 2024.

Di’Anno spent the final chapter of his life wheelchair-bound but defiant, ultimately relocating to Zagreb, Croatia, where crowdfunding organized by Kastro Pergjoni — who runs the Cart & Horses pub in London, birthplace of Iron Maiden — and Croatian fan Stjepan Juras helped him access affordable medical care and turn his health around. He performed more than 100 shows after 2023. He died of a tear in the sac around the heart, which caused blood to fill around it from the main aorta; the death was instantaneous. He was laid to rest on Nov. 21, 2024, at the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium in Manor Park, East London.

The post WES ORSHOSKI on IRON MAIDEN’s Support During PAUL DI’ANNO Documentary: “They Called Me the Morning After Paul Died — That’s Just Another Example of Them Being Super Cool” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

For Patti Smith, the best guidance was something that Davis rarely granted: free rein.

Sugar Ray built one of the most recognizable song catalogs of the late 1990s and early 2000s with a string of radio favorites that helped define an era of pop rock. Formed in Orange County, California, the band began as a heavier alternative rock act before breaking into the mainstream with the massive hit “Fly.” That breakthrough launched a remarkable run of successful singles that included “Every Morning,” “Someday,” “Falls Apart,” and “When It’s Over.” Over the course of their career, Sugar Ray has released eight studio albums, including Lemonade and Brownies, Floored, 14:59, Sugar Ray, In the Pursuit of

The post Complete List Of Sugar Ray Songs From A to Z appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen has reflected candidly on the misery she experienced during her final years with the Finnish symphonic metal band in a new interview with Albert Perera of Metal Hammer Spain, contrasting that period sharply with the happiness she now feels as a solo artist. The interview coincides with the release of Tarja’s new album, Frisson Noir (June 12, earMUSIC), which has been described as the heaviest record of her career.

Asked whether she might one day write an autobiography addressing her side of the 2005 Nightwish split, Tarja said (transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Maybe one day. I wrote a book during COVID. It’s not really a biography. It’s about my career, where I didn’t involve too much about my past with Nightwish. Maybe one day I can go back. Maybe. It’s just perhaps. I don’t feel like I am in need of explaining too much. But I can tell you this — I was not really involved in that biography [the authorized Once Upon a Nightwish]. They’d made me only one interview on the phone, 20 minutes, and that’s it.”

Recounting how her touring outlook has transformed since leaving Nightwish, Tarja said that Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation — with whom she toured roughly two years ago — was astonished at how relentlessly she stays on the road. “I really enjoy that. I’m like a glowing light bulb on my shows. I’m really happy. Very happy. And I’m happy to hear that you saw that in me, because it’s really real,” she said. Tarja acknowledged the personal toll of extended touring as a mother — leaving family behind for weeks at a time, the physical demands of the road — but said the quality of her crew and musicians transforms those hardships: “I have the best team of people. I have a beautiful crew, musicians. We all are like a happy bunch family. They are there to support me, and if I have a shitty day, like everybody does, they are there to give me a shoulder to cry on.”

The contrast with the Nightwish era couldn’t be starker: “I would never, ever, ever, ever be willing to go back where I was with the days in Nightwish. It was so miserable. It was not happy times. Why? You do music — it should be happy. I want the people to come to my shows, and they also go back home happy.”

Turunen was fired from Nightwish at the end of the band’s 2005 world tour by being presented with an open letter — signed by the other members and published simultaneously on the Nightwish website — accusing her of allowing business and financial matters to overshadow the band’s emotional core. Nightwish keyboardist and primary songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later called it “the most difficult thing I ever had to do.” Tarja’s response has been consistent over the years: “Maybe one day I’ll forgive, but I will never forget.” In 2019 she told Kerrang! that a reunion was “a very long distance away” and that she and Holopainen had been in touch but not seen each other in a long time. A December 2017 onstage reunion with then-Nightwish bassist/vocalist Marko “Marco” Hietala at a Raskasta Joulua concert in Hämeenlinna, Finland sparked reunion speculation that Tarja quickly quashed.

Tarja’s husband and manager Marcelo Cabuli, who had been blamed in the authorized biography Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996–2006 for the events leading to her dismissal, sued the book’s publisher Like Kustannus Oy and author Marko “Mape” Ollila for defamation; the Helsinki District Court dismissed the lawsuit in 2011.

Frisson Noir spans 10 tracks and features guest appearances from Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth), Apocalyptica, Marko Hietala and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers). It was mixed by Grammy-winning producer Neal Avron, known for his work with Linkin Park, Skillet and Disturbed. earMUSIC describes the album as “a powerful statement of identity, strength and belonging.”

The post TARJA TURUNEN on Her Final Days in NIGHTWISH: “I Would Never, Ever, Ever, Ever Be Willing to Go Back Where I Was…” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

MWM / MoonJune 2026 Phoenician polymath puts out his sophomore effort that’s sophisticated and funny in equal measure – because there’s a season for for every activity under the heavens. A staggering quarter of a century has passed since the … Continue reading →

The post ANTHONY GARONE – OK, But Why? appeared first on DMME.net.

A list of seven big things that happened at Hellfest 2026 in Clisson, France, from Breaking Benjamin's first show in the country to an Ozzy Osbourne statue. Continue reading…

How do you pick just one from 'Blackwater Park'?! Continue reading…

Smith hasn't had an official home since 2016, and that's perfectly fine with him. Continue reading…

"I’m already focused on getting healthy and look forward to being back on the road soon," Benante said while announcing who'll be filling in through the start of July. Continue reading…