On Saturday, December 1st at 2:00pm, Julien’s Auction House in Beverly Hills, CA will be auctioning over 80 guitars with proceeds going to the RONNIE JAMES DIO Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund. Guitars have been donated to the cause by SLAYER, DEF LEPPARD, CARLOS SANTANA, EDDIE VAN HALEN, STEVE VAI, BRIAN MAY, AEROSMITH and many more.
Check out the auction details for the guitar donated by Slayer here.
Formed in honor of the legendary singer who lost his life to stomach cancer, The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund held their 2nd Annual Awards Gala/Halloween Spooktacular Event on Halloween, Wednesday, October 31st at Avalon in Hollywood, CA.
The Blairing Out show with Eric Blair caught up with DIO DISCIPLES at the event. Watch the interview below:
Phil Collen, lead guitarist for the iconic rock band DEF LEPPARD, has announced plans for a charitable auction of “Wings”, a custom Jackson PC1 guitar that Collen has played throughout this summer’s “Rock Of Ages” tour. The auction, taking place exclusively on eBay, will begin on September 5 and end September 14, the last date of the tour. The winner will be announced in November which is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and all proceeds from the auction will benefit the Gerson Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Gerson Therapy, an alternative treatment for cancer and other degenerative diseases.
In early 2012, Jake Willoughby, a guitar and music store owner, asked Collen if he would assist in helping to raise money towards the fight against cancer, with Jake‘s mother having just passed away from pancreatic cancer after a courageous 13-month fight. By tragic coincidence, Phil‘s own father, Kenneth, succumbed to the same disease in 2004. Jake donated a Collen signature guitar, the Jackson PC1, from his music store. In the spirit of hope, it was named “Wings”. Mike Learn, a noted artist whose graphics are well known in the guitar world, donated the graphic custom paint job on the guitar. Ironically, Mike lost two family members to the same disease.
Phil began researching companies that were not only looking to prevent cancer, but also reverse its devastating effects. He initially had heard about the Gerson Institute located in San Diego, California from Jeni Cook, a raw foods chef and the wife of SEX PISTOLS and MANRAZE drummer Paul Cook. As Phil watched “The Gerson Miracle” DVD, he was incredibly moved by their cause, wishing he would have known about them before his father passed.
The Gerson Institute is a non-profit organization in San Diego, California dedicated to providing education and training in the Gerson Therapy — an alternative, non-toxic treatment for cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases. The Gerson Therapy, developed by Dr. Max Gerson in the 1920s, activates the body’s extraordinary ability to heal itself through an organic, vegetarian diet, raw juices, detoxification, and natural supplements. Since this powerful, natural treatment boosts the body’s own immune system, it is an effective method for treating not only cancer, but a variety of degenerative diseases including arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and skin tuberculosis.
Dr. Gerson began developing the Therapy while looking for a way to manage his own debilitating migraines, a path that lead him to a holistic understanding of medicine that is finally gaining growing acceptance.
This year marks a number of anniversaries for Collen, namely the 30th anniversary of his joining DEF LEPPARD as lead guitarist making his debut on the 10-times-platinum (in the USA) album “Pyromania”. In addition, this year marks the 25th anniversary for the 13-times-platinum (USA) album “Hysteria”, as well as the 20th anniversary of its 5-times-platinum (USA) follow-up, “Adrenalize”.
In a recent interview with The Patriot-News, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen was asked if the band was working on new material. “Yeah, some really cool, hard-rock stuff,” he replied. “I don’t know when that will be out. It’s a matter of fitting in when we can record. I don’t think we’ll go into a studio. You can pretty much do it in a trailer. We’ve recorded a bunch of stuff while on tour. That might be the way to go … to not take a whole block [of time] out and say, ‘We’re going to record for a year.’ That’s the way the industry’s gone. It’s more singles-based. You don’t have to put an album out, you can put a song out here and there.”
Asked if he thinks a band like DEF LEPPARD could make it big today, Phil said, “No, definitely not. The times have changed. It was a time and a place and you have to be aware of that. The fact that we’re out there still touring and writing new music is fascinating to me in this environment. I think we’re really blessed, actually.”
On the topic of why he thinks DEF LEPPARD is one of the few bands from the ’80s that have a large, devoted fan base, Phil said, “There’s an integrity we’ve got that a lot of other bands haven’t. They go away after awhile, and we’ve never stopped. We do new songs. Writing new material is the lifeblood. We are real, we walk it and talk it. The fact that we’ve known each other for so long and gone through so many experiences, good and bad, it keeps us very tight.”
Regarding the secret to keeping a band together, Collen said, “We’re from a working-class background in England. I’ve known lots of bands and they’re weak in the way they approach things — they get so upset over the slightest little thing. I think there’s something about [our background] that keeps you going. The things that make other bands split up don’t even register with us.”
DEF LEPPARD vocalist Joe Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen recently spoke to Fuse about some of their craziest tour stories, including an encounter with a Polish witch and performing in a Moroccan cave; their history with the musical “Rock Of Ages”, including visiting Tom Cruise on the film set; and their decision tore-recorded two of their biggest hits. Check out the footage below.
DEF LEPPARD kicked off their Rock Of Ages tour with POISON (and opener LITA FORD) last night (June 20th) in Salt Lake City, UT at the USANA Amphitheater. Check out set-lists below:
Def Leppard’s setlist:
‘Undefeated’
‘Rocket’
‘Let It Go’
‘Foolin”
‘Animal’
‘Love Bites’
‘Gods of War’
‘Two Steps Behind’
‘Women’
‘It’s All About Believin”
‘Let’s Get Rocked’
‘Bringin’ on the Heartbreak’
‘Hysteria’
‘Armageddon It’
‘Photograph’
Encore:
‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’
‘Rock of Ages’
Poison’s setlist:
‘Look What the Cat Dragged In’
‘Ride the Wind’
We’re An American Band’ (GRAND FUNK RAILROAD cover)
‘Your Mama Don’t Dance’ (LOGGINS & MESSINA cover)
Guitar Solo
‘Fallen Angel’
‘Unskinny Bop’
‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’
Drum Solo
‘Talk Dirty To Me’
‘Nothin’ But a Good Time ‘
The Rock Of Ages schedule is as follows:
June
22 – Irvine, CA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
23 – Las Vegas, NV – Red Rock Amphitheatre
25 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
27 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
29 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
30 – Tampa, FL – Tampa Bay Times Forum
July
2 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
3 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
6 – Cleveland, OH – Quickens Loan Arena
7 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
10 – Baltimore, MD – Merriweather Pavilion
11 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
13 – Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach Pavilion
14 – Atlantic City, NJ – Revel
16 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
17 – Hamilton, ON – Copps Coliseum
19 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena
21 – Omaha, NE – Red Sky Music Festival
22 – Cadott, WI – Rock Fest
August
9 – Sunrise, Florida Bank Atlantic Center
12 – Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live
15 – Hershey, PA – Hershey Park Stadium
17 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
18 – Boston, MA – Comcast Center
22 – Bangor, ME – Bangor Waterfront Pavilion
24 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
25 – St. Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena
29 – Lampe, MO – Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
31 – Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
September
1 – Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion
3 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
6 – Monterrey, Mexico – Arena Monterrey
8 – Mexico City, Mexico – Ciudad de México
12 – Tucson, AZ – Anselmo Valencia Ampitheatre
15 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
’80s hard rock queen Lita Ford and members of DEF LEPPARD, POISON and KISS were among the attendees at last night’s (Friday, June 8) premiere of the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical “Rock Of Ages” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.
The soundtrack to “Rock Of Ages”, which showcases popular rock songs from the ’70s and ’80s, features the cast — Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand and Julianne Hough — singing some of the greatest hits of the “hair-band” era, is likely to sell between 12,000 and 15,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on June 5 via WaterTower Music.
“Rock Of Ages: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” features the following track listing:
01. Paradise City (Tom Cruise)
02. Sister Christian/Just Like Paradise/Nothin’ But a Good Time (Diego Boneta)
03. Juke Box Hero/I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll (Diego Boneta)
04. Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Catherine Zeta-Jones)
05. Waiting For A Girl Like You Diego Boneta
06. More Than Words/Heaven (Diego Boneta)
07. Wanted Dead Or Alive (Julianne Hough)
08. I Want To Know What Love Is (Malin Akerman)
09. I Wanna Rock (Diego Boneta)
10. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Tom Cruise)
11. Harden My Heart (Julianne Hough)
12. Shadows Of The Night/Harden My Heart (Julianne Hough)
13. Here I Go Again (Diego Boneta)
14. Can’t Fight This Feeling (Russell Brand)
15. Any Way You Want It (Julianne Hough)
16. Undercover Love (Diego Boneta)
17. Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Diego Boneta)
18. Rock You Like A Hurricane (Julianne Hough)
19. We Built This City/We’re Not Gonna Take It (Russell Brand)
20. Don’t Stop Believin’ (Diego Boneta)
In a recent interview with Playboy.com, Cruise stated about his first attempt at singing, “I knew I could hold a note. I sang in a glee club when I was 14 years old and in a high school musical. But I never had a singing lesson. No one ever taught me how to use my voice.
It was previously reported that Cruise was preparing for his role by training with Axl Rose‘s vocal coach. “He was an opera singer who taught me how to control my voice,” Cruise said. “It’s like learning a new sport or a skill for a character. I had to find out how to move air through the vocal cords and where to place it in my head, in the chest. It’s something you have to do every day to strengthen your voice.”
The first song Cruise sang in front of a crowd was “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, with members of DEF LEPPARD watching him.
“I was down in Miami, recording different songs, and Adam [Shankman, director] called and said, ‘DEF LEPPARD‘s coming by the set,’” Cruise told Playboy.com. “I said, ‘Man, that’s cool.’ Then I paused. ‘Wait, I’m rehearsing their song tomorrow.’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah!’ [laughs] So we started right in the deep end, and that was the first scene I shot in the movie. It’s a great song, and I grew up listening to them. They went to the back of the Bourbon Room, and I looked at my band and was like, ‘Hit it.’ All the crew was watching them watching me. . . [After the song was done] the lead singer, Joe Elliott, points at me and goes, ‘Fuck you! Fuck you!’ Then I saw big smiles on their faces, and I realized I’d gotten their stamp. It was a very cool moment. It was important they knew I was honoring their music and not making fun of them.”
DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen recently told VH1 Classic Rock Nights that Cruise “was a super-lovely guy” when they met. Collen added, “I was so impressed because he hadn’t sung before and he had vocal lessons. He was literally doing five hours a day, five days a week, like truly real, getting in there and doing it. And we saw him and he was amazing, it was like Iggy Pop meets someone else and he’s in great shape and it was like, ‘What!?!’ It was surreal, but he really pulls it off and it was like he’s a total rock star.”
Tom Cruise stars in “Rock Of Ages” as Stacee Jaxx, an aging musician whose glory days are long past.
Adam Anders, executive music producer for the film and album, recently told The Hollywood Reporter about Cruise‘s vocal skills, “He had never sung in his life. He was like, ‘I need to know that I can do this before I sign on.’ So I went to his house to hear him sing and even though he was completely green as a singer, his vocal cords were amazing. He had this voice that blew me away. It was the most powerful voice I had ever heard. So loud. He could do anything and go as high as we wanted. It was like a kid discovering he had a new toy. I left there super-pumped knowing that not only could we make him pass as a singer in the movie, but we would blow people away with what he could do.”
He added, “[Tom's] confidence kept growing as we worked together. I think he started off a little nervous, as anybody would who has never done this, but he just bought it 110%. He works harder than anybody I’ve ever met in my life. By the end of this movie, the guy was just phenomenal. I remember telling him, ‘You’re a singer!’”
“Rock Of Ages” also stars Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Malin Akerman and many others. It scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 15.
DEF LEPPARD have added more dates to their upcoming Rock Of Ages tour, featuring POISON and LITA FORD. Special VIP tickets available at VIP Nation here.
The updated schedule is as follows:
June
20 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheater
22 – Irvine, CA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
23 – Las Vegas, NV – Red Rock Amphitheatre
25 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
27 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
29 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
30 – Tampa, FL – Tampa Bay Times Forum
July
2 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
3 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
6 – Cleveland, OH – Quickens Loan Arena
7 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
10 – Baltimore, MD – Merriweather Pavilion
11 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
13 – Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach Pavilion
16 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
17 – Hamilton, ON – Copps Coliseum
19 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena
21 – Omaha, NE – Red Sky Music Festival
22 – Cadott, WI – Rock Fest
August
9 – Sunrise, Florida Bank Atlantic Center
12 – Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live
15 – Hershey, PA – Hershey Park Stadium
17 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
18 – Boston, MA – Comcast Center
22 – Bangor, ME – Bangor Waterfront Pavilion
24 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
25 – St. Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena
29 – Lampe, MO – Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
31 – Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
September
1 – Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion
3 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
6 – Monterrey, Mexico – Arena Monterrey
8 – Mexico City, Mexico – Ciudad de México
12 – Tucson, AZ – Anselmo Valencia Ampitheatre
15 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
DEF LEPPARD have released their new single ‘It’s All About Believin’’. The track comes off their latest album Mirrorball (Live & More) which was released in 2011.
In June, Def Leppard will hit the road on the Rock Of Ages tour, with POISON and LITA FORD. The updated schedule is as follows:
June
20 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheater
22 – Irvine, CA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
23 – Las Vegas, NV – Red Rock Amphitheatre
25 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
27 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
29 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
30 – Tampa, FL – Tampa Bay Times Forum
July
2 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
3 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
6 – Cleveland, OH – Quickens Loan Arena
7 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
10 – Baltimore, MD – Merriweather Pavilion
11 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
13 – Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach Pavilion
16 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
17 – Hamilton, ON – Copps Coliseum
19 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena
22 – Cadott, WI – Rock Fest
August
9 – Sunrise, Florida Bank Atlantic Center
12 – Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live
15 – Hershey, PA – Hershey Park Stadium
18 – Boston, MA – Comcast Center
22- Bangor ME – Bangor Waterfront Pavilion
24 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
25 – St. Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena
31 – Oklahoma City, OK – Zoo Amphitheatre
For ticket details visit Defleppard.com. Source :Bravewords.com
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of DEF LEPPARD‘s fifth studio album, “Adrenalize”, the band’s lead guitarist, Phil Collen, plays the “White Lightning” solo in the two-minute video clip below. Source: Blabbermouth.net
DEF LEPPARD will make a return to the United States this June with a massive summer tour. Joining the band for this highly anticipated trek are POISON and LITA FORD.
“We had such a good time going out with POISON in 2009 that we thought it only right to do it again!” says DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott.
First leg 2012 U.S. dates:
Jun. 20 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheater
Jun. 22 – Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Jun. 23 – Las Vegas, NV @ Red Rock Amphitheatre
Jun. 25 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
Jun. 27 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
Jun. 29 – Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Jun. 30 – Tampa, FL @ Tampa Bay Times Forum
Jul. 02 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
Jul. 03 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Jul. 06 – Cleveland, OH @ Quickens Loan Arena
Jul. 07 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
Jul. 10 – Baltimore, MD @ Merriweather Pavilion
Jul. 11 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
Jul. 13 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Pavilion
Jul. 16 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
Jul. 17 – Hamilton, ON @ Copps Coliseum
Jul. 19 – Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena
Jul. 22 – Cadott, WI @ Rock Fest
In a recent interview with AOL‘s Noisecreep, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen stated about the band’s upcoming road activities. “We’re actually going to be back on tour around when the [film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical 'Rock Of Ages'] is out, and it would be a lot of fun to get some of the other bands featured in ‘Rock Of Ages’ out with us,” he said. “Nothing has been finalized yet, but apparently POISON will be joining us — at least according to [POISON singer] Bret Michaels, who has been telling everyone that they’ll be touring with us this year. [Laughs] We went out with POISON in 2009, and we all had so much fun. If it does end up happening like that, I would love for the third band to be someone like TWISTED SISTER, since they’re also in the new movie. I think that would make for a great lineup.”
