In 2024, Dave Grohl made an unexpected public announcement: “I’ve recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside my marriage. I plan to be a loving and supporting parent to her. I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness.” His band Foo Fighters canceled a headlining festival set, and he stayed out of the public eye until a surprise Nirvana reunion at an LA benefit a few months later. Now, Grohl is talking about it (or maybe talking around it) for the first time.
Starr Special Events announces an all‑Australian, all‑star live music celebration
Ascot Racecourse will come alive with the soundtrack of Australian summers past and present as Starr Special Events proudly presents the End of Summer Concert, a one‑day live music spectacular featuring some of the most iconic and enduring names in Australian music.
Headlined by ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Daryl Braithwaite, the concert brings together a powerhouse lineup that spans generations, genres, and decades of chart‑topping hits. Set against the open‑air backdrop of Ascot Racecourse, the End of Summer Concert promises a feel‑good celebration of live music, nostalgia, and world‑class Australian talent.
Few artists are as deeply woven into the fabric of Australian music as Daryl Braithwaite. From his rise to superstardom as the frontman of 1970s phenomenon Sherbet, with enduring hits like Howzat and Summer Love, to his hugely successful solo career, Braithwaite’s catalogue reads like a greatest‑hits collection of Australian anthems. His landmark album Edge (1988) topped the ARIA Albums Chart and delivered classics As The Days Go By and One Summer, while The Horses from Rise (1990) became – and remains – one of the nation’s most beloved sing‑along anthems.
In recent years, Braithwaite has continued to prove his lasting relevance, from releasing new music such as Love Songs to sharing the stage with global stars, including a memorable duet of The Horses with Harry Styles at Sydney’s Accor Stadium. His performance at Ascot Racecourse is set to be one of the defining moments of the End of Summer Concert.
Joining Braithwaite are Baby Animals, one of Australia’s most successful and loved rock bands. Their self‑titled debut album remains one of the biggest in Australian music history, spending six weeks at number one, achieving eight‑times platinum status, and earning multiple ARIA Awards. More than three decades on, the band’s fire burns just as brightly, delivering timeless tracks like Early Warning, Rush You, and Painless with the same intensity that first captured the nation.
Photo: Rossco Hunter
Also taking the stage is Mark Lizotte, better known as DIESEL, a true journeyman of Australian music. With a career spanning decades, multiple ARIA Awards, and a catalogue packed with hits including Tip Of My Tongue, Love Junk, and Come To Me, Diesel’s electrifying live
Thirsty Merc bring their unmistakable blend of pop‑rock hooks and heartfelt songwriting to the lineup. With fan favourites such as 20 Good Reasons, Someday Someday, and In The Summertime, the band remains a mainstay of Australian radio and live stages, still hungry to extend their legacy.
Thirsty Merc – Photo: Hunter Brothers Media
Adding depth and soul to the evening is Wendy Matthews, an Australian music icon celebrated for her expressive, emotive voice and timeless songs. From The Day You Went Away to Token Angels and Let’s Kiss, Matthews’ performances are known for their warmth, grace, and emotional connection.
Photo: Linda Dunjey
Rounding out the bill is Jason Ayres, a rising voice blending alternative country, Americana, and rock influences. Known for anthemic melodies and heartfelt storytelling, Ayres brings a contemporary edge to the concert, drawing inspiration from artists such as John Mayer, Ryan Adams, and Keith Urban.
The End of Summer Concert at Ascot Racecourse is designed as a relaxed yet electrifying outdoor experience—an opportunity for music lovers to come together and celebrate Australian talent under the open sky. With a lineup stacked with hits, history, and heart, Starr Special Events promises a night that will resonate long after the final note fades.
For ticketing information, event updates, and announcements, stay tuned to official Starr Special Events channels.
Internationally acclaimed vocalist Alissa White-Gluz returns with “Checkmate,” a striking new single that marks a powerful evolution in both sound and creative vision.
Beloved for her commanding presence in extreme metal, White-Gluz steps forward here with a renewed sense of freedom, fully embracing the breadth of her vocal range and artistic identity. “Checkmate” showcases a dynamic fusion of melody, heaviness, and razor-sharp precision, delivering a track that is as catchy as it is emotionally resonant. The crushing new single was written by Alissa White-Gluz, Alyssa Day, and Dani Sophia, and mixed and mastered by Kile Odell.
“This is a song where everything just clicked,” says White-Gluz. “Checkmate is an extremely cathartic song for me. It was created in one of those flow states where the lyrics and melodies and rhythms just write themselves, and you get the feeling that you’re onto something powerful. It’s probably the heaviest thing I’ve written in terms of lyrics, and probably the lightest of what we have cooking in terms of sound. I wanted to share the intensity of these feelings with fans and give them something to hold onto. I’m so happy to see so much support for Blue Medusa already; fans can look forward to more dark, heavy, brutal, and haunting music very soon.”
Beyond the music, “Checkmate” also highlights White-Gluz’s expanding role as a visual storyteller. Co-directing the music video with Vicente Cordero of Industrialism Films – whom she previously collaborated with on high-ranking videos for “The Wolf You Feed” with Nita Strauss and “I Am a Machine” with Kat Von D – she brings a cinematic, detail-driven approach that elevates the track into a fully immersive experience.
Built around a unique, outside-the-box concept developed by White-Gluz, the video unfolds within a game of chess, where each move carries deliberate allegory and layered symbolism.
“I know what every frame is for,” jokes White-Gluz. “I’ll share that someday, but for now, I welcome fans to dive deeper into the meaning and develop their own interpretations. That’s what makes videos and movies fun and interesting, in my opinion.”
The result is a release that feels both familiar and refreshingly new, bridging the gap between longtime fans of her work and listeners discovering her for the first time. “Checkmate” balances melody with intensity, offering a thought-provoking and emotionally charged entry point into what promises to be a bold new chapter.
Born David Holgate Grundy on February 6, 1939, in Woodhouse, Sheffield, Yorkshire, Dave Berry grew up with music in the house because his father, a bricklayer by trade, was also a professional jazz drummer and taught him the instrument. Berry attended Woodhouse County Council School, left at 16, and worked as a welder before moving into music full time. His first group was the Cruisers, and his admiration for Chuck Berry led him to adopt the surname Berry. That decision helped define the public identity he carried into the 1960s when Decca signed him and the Cruisers after he was
Duane Betts will release his new album Isle of Hope on June 12 via Sun Records. The project was produced by Grammy Award-winner Dave Cobb and marks Betts’ first release with the label.
The album arrives during a significant period in Betts’ life and career. Following years of touring and recording as both a solo artist and a founding member of The Allman Betts Band, Betts experienced the loss of his father, Dickey Betts. The album reflects that time, with material shaped by themes of change, reflection and personal perspective.
“With Isle of Hope, I wanted to show my life’s experiences. All that I’ve been through, all that shaped me and all I aspire to be and translate to the listener a sense of purpose and hope and optimism. In these anxious times in the world, music is always a sanctuary and gives people a feeling of purpose and strength. I wanted this record to exemplify that,” Betts said.
Isle of Hope was recorded in five days at Cobb’s studio in Savannah, Georgia. The album features ten tracks written by Betts alongside longtime collaborator Stoll Vaughan, including the single “Down to Houston,” which is available now.
The record also includes contributions from Johnny Stachela and J.D. Simo on guitar, Brian Allen on bass, Philip Towns on keyboards and Derrek Phillips on drums.
The release follows Betts’ 2023 solo debut Wild & Precious Life, which featured appearances from Derek Trucks, Marcus King and Nicki Bluhm.
In addition to his solo work, Betts co-founded The Allman Betts Band with Devon Allman. Since forming in 2018, the group has released two studio albums and continues to tour, including their annual Allman Betts Family Revival shows.
Betts will support the new album with a series of tour dates this spring and summer, performing with his band Palmetto Motel as well as select shows with The Allman Betts Band.
Watch the music video for the first single, “Down To Houston,” below.
Duane Betts Tour Dates
March 21 — Kahului, HI — Maui Arts & Cultural Center* March 22 — Honolulu, HI — Hawaii Theatre* April 11 — Steamboat Springs, CO — Gondola Plaza – Steamboat Ski Area+ April 16 — Fairfield, CT — SHU Community Theatre+ April 17 — Vienna, VA — The Barns at Wolf Trap+ April 18 — Vienna, VA — The Barns at Wolf Trap+ April 19 — Charleston, WV — Mountain Stage+ April 21 — Annapolis, MD — Rams Head on Stage+ April 22 — Red Bank, NJ — The Vogel at Count Basie+ April 23 — Ardmore, PA — Ardmore Music Hall+ April 24 — Homer, NY — Homer Center for the Arts+ April 25 — Buffalo, NY — University at Buffalo Center for the Arts+ April 26 — State College, PA — The State Theatre+ April 29 — Albany, NY — Swyer Theatre at The Egg+ April 30 — Manchester, NH — The Rex Theatre+ May 1 — Westhampton Beach, NY — Westhampton Beach PAC+ May 2 — East Greenwich, RI — The Greenwich Odeum+ May 3 — Norfolk, CT — Infinity Hall Norfolk+ May 27 — Ponte Vedra Beach, FL — Ponte Vedra Concert Hall+ May 28 — Stuart, FL — Lyric Theatre+ May 29 — Fort Lauderdale, FL — Amaturo Theater+ May 30 — Bonita Springs, FL — Arts Bonita PAC+ May 31 — Clearwater, FL — Capitol Theatre+ June 6 — Vail, CO — Gerald Ford Amphitheater – Allman Betts Family Revival* August 10 — Ocean City, NJ — Ocean City Music Pier+ January 16 — Fort Lauderdale, FL — The Big Easy Cruise+
*The Allman Betts Band show +Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel show
Ashley McBryde kicked off the year with the sweeping song “What If We Don’t.” Today the country musician is announcing her fifth studio album Wild, which follows 2023’s The Devil I Know. The lead single “Bottle Tells Me So” is out now. The LP is produced by John Osborne and recorded with her live band…
Cashier don’t make the type of music you’d typically associate with Cajun Country. As vocalist/guitarist Kylie Gaspard tells me over Zoom, most of the bands you’ll find in her hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana nod to the region’s rich cultural history — plenty of Creole zydeco, tons of jazz, a good amount of metal that’s trickled over from New Orleans. “Honestly, I feel like it was kind of easy for us to get started here,” Gaspard explains. “I feel like Lafayette is so community oriented that the people here are really quick to support anyone they know who’s making music.”
Dave Mustaine has a date with the bookshelf. His next memoir, In My Darkest Hour, is set for release on 09/08/2026 through Da Capo, the newly relaunched music-focused imprint under Grand Central Publishing. The book will chronicle the Megadeth frontman’s seven-year reckoning with squamous cell carcinoma — a cancer of the tongue that threatened to take his voice, his band, and his life.
Mustaine broke the news of his diagnosis in 06/2019, telling fans that doctors had given him a 90% chance of survival. What followed was a grueling course of 51 radiation treatments and nine rounds of chemotherapy — all while he continued writing and recording what became Megadeth‘s sixteenth studio album, The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead! He returned to the stage in early 2020, just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut touring down worldwide.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Mustaine laid out exactly what kind of book this is — and what it isn’t: “One of the most harrowing experiences of my adult life has been my seven-year journey through cancer treatment and onward into remission. This story is considerably more than just, ‘Go to the doctor, get diagnosed, get treatment, and hopefully I live happily ever after.’ This was a journey of me saving myself, staying alive, keeping my family together, and continuing to make music through it all.”
Da Capo executive editor Ben Schafer echoed that framing. “‘In My Darkest Hour’ is Dave Mustaine at his most revealing, vulnerable, and true,” he said. “With lacerating honesty and soulful reflection, he speaks to the universal human experience of facing serious illness and how it changes a person, their family and friends, and one’s relationship with creativity.”
The memoir was co-written by New York Times journalist Joe Layden, a long-standing collaborator who previously worked with Mustaine on Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir (2010) and with original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley on No Regrets: A Rock ‘N’ Roll Memoir. Layden is also the author of The Last Great Fight, which documents James “Buster” Douglas‘s stunning tenth-round knockout of Mike Tyson in 1990 — widely regarded as the biggest upset in boxing history.
Per the official book description from Da Capo, In My Darkest Hour will track Mustaine “from the treatment room to the studio,” detailing how the diagnosis pushed him deeper into both his faith and his artistry. The record that came out of that period, The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead!, was shaped directly by what he was living through — radiation and chemo appointments running parallel to hours-long recording sessions.
This will be Mustaine‘s third book. Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir debuted at No. 15 on the New York Times “Hardcover Nonfiction” bestseller list upon its release in 08/2010. His second, Rust In Peace: The Inside Story Of The Megadeth Masterpiece, arrived via Hachette Books in 09/2020 and offered a deep dive into the making of Megadeth‘s 1990 landmark album.
(written by Islander) The German pagan/black metal band Asenheim are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. That’s an exceptionally long time for the life of any metal band, and Asenheim have filled those years with releases — no long hiatuses, no deaths and rebirths, just a steady progression of creativity. To commemorate this milestone anniversary, […]
